, as opposed to having a defense appropriations bill adopted. and a debt ceiling crisis that could create even further turmoil that could impact our budget and our economy. the fact is, of looking at all three of those, we have no idea what the hell is going to happen. all told, this uncertainty, if left unresolved by the congress, will seriously harm our military readiness. let me explain why. first, the cr expires on march 27. if congress fails to pass the appropriations bill for fiscal year 2013, our overall operating accounts would decrease by about 5% below the proposed budget presented by the president for our 2013 budget. that amount comes to about $11 billion. an important part of our strategy is try to increase the operating accounts in order to maintain readiness. the cr would prevent us from doing that. if congress fails to detrigger sequestration and we have this half trillion dollar cut on march 1, we would have to cut another 9%, almost $18 billion. to protect funding for the war in afghanistan from these cuts, we have an obligation, obviously to protect the fighter and what we'r
